Italy in a Flash

Spend it all in Rome! You can be actively engaged for weeks in Rome. If you need to see "one more place" take a day trip to Orvieto. Don't waste precious time changing locations/hotels. 5 days (6 nights?) in Rome gives you time to truly enjoy! Almost no transportation cost as it is so walkable, or with a Roma Pass you can get three days of bus/metro/tram covered. We ate for less than 80 euros per day in Rome, and that included a fair amount of wine, coffee and gelato. :-)

With only 5 days I would pick one city and stay put. There is so much to see and do and splitting such a short time between 2 places means you don't get to see much of either. Donna

Yep, Rome. Specifically, the Trastevere neighborhood. You can do a daytrip to several places from there as well. See the RS Rome book.

Have you ever been to Italy before? If I had never been and then only visit one big city I would not be happy. Do you have your flight? I would want to see two places that are diverse... a Tuscan hillside town or Venice and Rome. Have you watched the RS videos on Italy and when you dream about going what does it look like? I don't always look at moving hotels as a waste of time...train time can be relaxing, time to journal or just look out the window, and on to the next exciting destination. Everyone travels different, but I don't mind a few nights in each place...I am okay with leaving a place wanting more... gives me reason to return.

Wow, so much to see, so little time! I was there for 16 days and barely scratched the surface. I'd pick two cities to give your palate a good sampling and see the major sites there. I saw Verona, Venice, Florence, Lucca, Pisa, the Cinque Terre and Rome in 16 days, so I don't know what other cities are like. I DID like all the ones I saw, tho, and am sure there are many hundreds of other possibilities to choose from. Based on that, I'd recommend something like 2 days in Venice, 3 in Rome; or 1 1/2 in Venice, check out Verona (Romeo and Juliet city!) for 1/2 day, spend the night, and then on to Rome; something like that. It's not a lot of time, and you can't see everything in any one city anyway. Wherever you go, I'm sure you'll love it! Buon viaggio!
PS: I'm not into art, either, but I went through many museums and saw many paintings and sculptures that blew me away. The Borghese Gallery in Rome has some spectacular sculptures that makes you wonder how on earth they were able to accomplish such feats with the tools they had.... simply amazing!

What are your travel restrictions? Are you flying into and out of Rome? Our first trip to Italy lasted 15 days, we spent 8 of them in Rome and the rest at a farmhouse in Tuscany. I really enjoyed Rome, but Rome is very different from Tuscany. Graffiti is a problem, it breaks my heart when someone paints graffiti on travertine marble in a metro station. That having been said, depending on where you're going into/out of I think that you might really enjoy Florence, Venice or Rome. I do agree that you'll probably want to stick to one city.

With only 5 days in Italy, I would also suggest either Venice, Florence, or Rome. If you want to see 2 places, stay in the city for 4 days and take a daytrip on the fifth day. What are your interests in architecture? Venice is the city for you if you like late medieval/early modern architecture with an Eastern (Byzantine) twist (San Marco and the Doge's Palace; the palaces on the Grand Canal). Florence is the city of the Renaissance. If you like ancient and Baroque architecture, visit Rome.

Jessica, With only a VERY short five days, I'd also suggest primarily focusing on Rome as there are so many options there. You'll barely be over jet lag by the time you have to return home! It's likely that your flights are to & from Rome, so it wouldn't be a good idea to waste a lot of your short time in travel to other locations. I agree with the previous suggestion for a day trip to Orvieto. It's a beautiful hill town in Umbria with an interesting history, and only a one-hour train ride from Rome. Be sure to see the ceiling frescoes in the Duomo!!! If this is your first time in Europe / Italy, it would be a really GOOD idea to read Europe Through The Back Door prior to your trip. Also, the Italy or Rome Guidebooks provide a LOT of information on sightseeing in Rome, so you'd be able to find things that fit your criteria. These are easily downloadable in E-book format if you have a Kindle, iPad, iPod Touch or whatever, and would prefer not to carry the paper version. For a first time visitor, Rome can be a bit of a "culture shock", so a bit of research is highly recommended! While you'll certainly find "good food and wine" there, it would be a good idea to familiarize yourself with the typical Italian menus, as ordering the "full meal deal" (Primi, Secondi, etc.) can get expensive very quickly! What type of "night life" are you referring to? One point to note is that "limited budget" and "night life" aren't always a good match in Europe! The Trastevere area mentioned previously is an awesome area, but it's a bit of a distance from Termini (the main station). You'll need to decide which part of Rome will best fit the experience you want. Buon Viaggio!

So much great info! Thanks everyone for your help. And keep it comin' if you feel so inclined...

Personally I would do a combination of Venice and Bologna. Venice has romance and architecture, Bologna has architecture, good wine and the best food in Italy, plus some great nightlife.